CHRIS Booy remains confident Bristol Rugby will have a bright future – even if they are relegated in May.

The Bristol chairman has cited the arrival of Pat Lam as head coach, the signing of players such as Ian Madigan and Steven Luatua, and Steve Lansdown’s ongoing financial commitment as reasons to be cheerful.

He has also confirmed Bristol have signed “a number of international players” whose arrivals will be announced shortly.

Chairman Booy is known for issuing rallying statements following damaging defeats – and Sunday’s 41-24 loss at Worcester has left Bristol on the brink of relegation to the GKIPA Championship.

In his statement, Booy said: “There’s a long-term plan in place here at Bristol Rugby to ensure that the club is competitive at the highest level. With Stephen Lansdown’s continued commitment and the infrastructure we have, we are in a very exciting position to move forward.

“In the last six months alone, we have appointed a new, highly successful head coach who will bring his own ideas and culture to our environment, we have announced a restructure of our organisation with Mark Tainton taking on the chief operating officer role from next season, and we have recruited for next season with a real focus on how we can build a formidable squad.

“In addition, we are in the advanced stages of securing permission for a world-class new training base and we are proud to call one of the finest stadiums in the country our home.

“We have signed a number of international players for next season who we will be announcing in the coming weeks.”

Bottom-of-the-table Bristol trail Worcester by seven points with five matches to play – including games against all of the Premiership’s top three sides.

But Booy said: “Results like Sunday’s defeat against Worcester are difficult for all of us to take – supporters, players and staff.

“But in the bigger picture, these are short-term setbacks and we must keep pushing forward. The vision and ambition of Stephen and the board is clear, and make no mistake, we will be a hugely successful rugby club in the future.

“Ian’s arrival today – irrespective of what league we are in – shows that we can attract some of the best talent in the world, while equally as importantly, academy players such as Callum Sheedy and Ollie Dawe are committing.

“The emergence of lock Sam Jeffries this season – coupled with the international honours for a number of our under-18s – underlines the importance of developing young players at Bristol Rugby.”

On the club’s ongoing battle to stay in the Premiership, Booy added: “We will fight tooth and nail to remain in the top flight this season, with five crucial games to go and five opportunities to keep the pressure on Worcester. We have a mountain to climb, but the belief is there until the very end.

“If we don’t succeed in staying up, nothing changes. The ambition remains, the commitment of our new signings stays the same and we will focus our energies of returning to the Aviva Premiership at the first time of asking.

“The support through a challenging season has been unwavering and we ask you to continue that backing until the end. We cannot thank you enough for that. We believe that we can achieve ‘the great escape’ and we need you with us to stick with the team and help inspire some memorable performances.”